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Thursday, February 27, 2014

DIY Natural Deodorant

Natural Deodorant
Top Fill Style from an old "Degree" container

Making natural deodorant is easy! Deodorant lets you sweat but keeps the bacteria from forming and causing you to stink.You can use various ingredients to do the job and not worry about the dangerous additives of antiperspirants, such as  aluminum. I have tried using baking soda and other ingredients, but this is the combination that works the best for me.

First you need a container, if you have an old antiperspirant tube you may wash it thoroughly and re-purpose it for your recipe. If it is a bottom fill style you will remove the plug from the bottom and put tape across the top to keep it from running out as the bottom fill style needs to be done upside down. I prefer my top fill! You simply pour it in and let it harden! Lots easier. Any type of small container is fine, you need to determine how much you will need to make based on the size of your container.

The ingredients I use are:


  • Zinc Oxide Powder
  • Coconut oil (or any hard butter such as Cocoa, Mango, Tucuma, Kokum, Cupuacu, or Sal) 
  • Beeswax or Floral Wax
  • A few drops of T-50 E
  • Optional: essential oils and/or fragrance oils


Example: For a 3 oz container I use 2 oz butter, .25 oz beeswax, 2 T Zinc Oxide Powder, a few drops of T-50 E, lavender, rosemary and lemongrass essential oil

Directions:

Using a small enamel or glass saucepan and melt your butter and wax, add in the zinc powder mixing it in thoroughly, add  the T-50 E, add your optional EO's and FO's. Your mixture should be white and fairly runny. Pour into your container. Place in fridge for a while until cooled and hard.

Note: If you're using a top fill container set it on a plate or in a bowl just in case it leaks so you won't have a mess to clean in the fridge!

To use: 

Place a small amount under the arms or any place you have problems with bacteria causing odors.

It lasts for 2-4 days depending on how vigorous you are and how much you sweat. I wash my underarms at night with water and it keeps right on working!


So there you have it, it's simple but effective. I've used this for several years, before that I used Lavilin which works quite well but is a bit expensive. The rest of the natural stuff out there I wasn't interested in because the ingredients were things I can't use (like baking soda). I also tried the crystal salts-they seemed like they worked but just didn't last once the sweating started! For many years I used zinc oxide cream but once I realized it is in a petroleum base,  I knew I needed to stop putting petroleum on my underarms! That's how I came up with this combination. I took the ingredient from the zinc oxide that worked for me and put it in a harmless base! I only have to make a new batch 1-2 times a year and it works fantastic! I made up several and sold them at my last craft show! I got these white top fill containers very inexpensively from CPS ( http://www.containerandpackaging.com/ ) Louisville, KY. Try making some and get away from aluminum-some day you will wish you had!

Take care and talk to you soon!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps
Deodorant

Friday, February 21, 2014

Charcoal Soap

Hi all,

I'm down to 2 bars on charcoal soap and want to make a new batch. First things first, what should I do?

  1. 1 color-black no scent?
  2. 1 color-black and a scent?
  3. 2 color swirled with a scent?
This was my previous batch-charcoal and pomegranate.

Here are the Essential Oils and Scents I have on hand:


Essential OilsFragrance Oils
AmrisAlmond
Bay RumCinnamon
CajeputAutumn Song
Cedarwood HimalayaBaby Powder
CinnamonBlack Cherry
Clove BudBubble Gum
EucalyptusChocolate
FrankincenseHoliday Spic
Rose GeraniumCinnamon Bun
Java CitronellaCitrus
LavenderCitrus Twist
LemongrassCool Water
OrangeCotton Candy
PeppermintCucumber Melon
GrapefruitFresh Linen
RosemaryHeaven Scent
Tea TreeHot Apple Pie
TurmericJamaican Fruit
VanillaJasmine
WintergreenJuniper Sage
Lemon Sugar
Lilac and Lilies
Lime Margarita
Spell
Mango Martini
Mayan Gold
Myrrh
Neroli
Ocean Breeze
Peach
Pecan Pie
Peppermint
Perfect Melody
Plumeria
Pomegranate
Sandalwood
Sea Fresh
Sex on the Beach
Smooth Roast
Starburst
Stormy Nights
Strawberry Delight
Vanilla Cream
Vanilla Lace
Violet
Waterfall



Any input would be appreciated! The person who submits the best idea will receive a free soap of their choice along with my thanks. Please comment below with your ideas.

Thank you so much for the assistance!

God Bless,

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Soaping for 2013

What I learned in 2013

  • Etsy is a not a good place to sell soap, it is very difficult because there are so many selling it!
  • I sell more soap by word of mouth and in person
  • Farmer's Markets and festivals are good places to sell soap
  • Ebay is a great place to sell soap
  • Don't trust the U.S.P.S.- check the tracking!
I have too many varieties of soap and too much soap in inventory, so unfortunately I am not making any new soaps right now. My inventory needs to go down. It's amazing to me, last year I was frantic to get an inventory built up. I think I did too good of a job! At last count I still have 289 full size soaps. (This doesn't include all my small hearts or squares.)
An associate of mine asked me about making 5000+ bars a month for them and at this time I had to decline. I honestly don't have the room to do it!

So here I sit, not making soap. I miss it so much! Sniffle sniffle.

If I can find a way to sell soap and reduce inventory then I can make some new soap, oh how happy I will be! :)


Meanwhile, I can say I am selling soap. Just not humongous quantities. It's more like 20 this week and 3 next week... it comes and goes! At holiday time I made 3 batches that are nearly gone. And I made more of a type I already had (Almond Goats Milk) and a new goats milk (Mayan Gold Goats Milk) to replace another type I ran out of. (Caramel Latte' Goats Milk)

How about you? How is your business going? Successful and busy? Or slow and steady?

I'm praying to do well in 2014 and build my business bigger!

Have a great day!

Marla
MJR Soaps